CGNK joins NGOs Major Group in Africa Discussion on Water Conflicts

CGNK was invited to participate in a virtual side-event of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development focused around “Water disputes in Africa and its effect on sustainable development”. The event was organized by the NGOs Major Group in Africa and Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights Association, where CGNK’s Special Adviser Hagar ElBarbary presented on the Nile River and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis, involving Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.

Hagar, who has just completed a Master’s thesis on the subject at Åbo Akademi University’s program on Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research, stressed concerns and potential negative repercussions of the GERD emphasizing the importance of cooperation in preparing joint studies and exchanging information to find common solutions to the GERD crisis.

Other panelists included Henry Orikot, chair of Infrastructure and Energy Cluster at the African Union’s Economic Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), Hannah Foster, the executive director of the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Biyika Lawrence Songa, a member of the Ugandan Parliament, Asaad Shamseldin, associate professor at the University of Auckland, and Abdul-Majid Haroun from the African League Forum forRights and Development.

The NGOs Major Group in Africa is a gathering of NGOs and civil society, affiliated with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The group is currently participating in the activities of the United Nations High Level Political Forum (HLPF). Maat is the regional coordinator for the North Africa region in the NMGA.